Two teenagers were arrested and charged with brutally beating and mugging three teenagers on tony Plaza Street West on May 16. A third assailant remains at large.
The victims — two boys and a girl — told cops that they were walking near the corner of Berkeley Place at around 10:15 pm when three teens approached, each choosing a victim to rough up.
“Give me your stuff,” one of the assailants said, grabbing one of the boys’ cellphone, iPod and wallet, which contained a mere $5.
Meanwhile, the second perp grabbed the other guy, demanding his iPod. When he said he did not have one of the popular digital music devices, the thug punched him in the jaw.
At the same time, the third teen hooligan asked to see the girl’s iPod. She also said she did not have such a player, and started to walk off. But that only enraged the perp, who hit her in the back of the head, cops said.
All three perps fled north towards Flatbush Avenue. Hours later, cops picked up two 14-year-olds and charged them with the crime.
myPod
A thief snatched an iPod right out of a woman’s hand on Union Street on May 17.
The 21-year-old music lover told cops that she was on the block between Grand Army Plaza and Eighth Avenue at around 4:45 pm when the teenage punk ran up and grabbed the popular device from her.
The Manhattan woman reported that the thug — and an accomplice — ran into Prospect Park, where she lost sight of them.
Bookworm
A sly pickpocket stole two wallets from a woman’s bag as she browsed tomes inside a Seventh Avenue bookstore on May 14.
The victim told cops that was in the store, which is at the corner of Sixth Street, from 8:30 to 9:15 pm. Only when she left, did she notice that her wallets — which contained various cards, but no cash — were gone.
Wheely bad
At least one car was stolen — and another broken into — last week off Park Slope streets. Here’s a roundup:
• A 2001 Jeep was stolen from its parking space on Third Street sometime after 10 pm on May 17. The 45-year-old owner told cops she had left the car between Fifth and Sixth avenues, but it was gone when she returned to it at noon the next day.
• Following an ongoing pattern in the neighborhood, a satellite-guided navigation system was stolen out of a car that had been parked at the corner of Eastern Parkway and Flatbush Avenue on May 10.
The 52-year-old driver, who lives in Pennsylvania, told cops that she had parked the car at around 6 pm, but when she returned 90 minutes later, she found the car ransacked and the digital map system stolen, along with $500, a cellphone and various credit and debit cards.
As reported in The Brooklyn Paper last week, cops in the 78th Precinct are seeing a rash of thefts of navigation systems.
It starts
The strip of Flatbush Avenue between Grand Army Plaza and the Prospect Park Zoo made its first appearance of the season in the police blotter, thanks to a would-be thief who smashed a car window on May 15.
Regular readers of the blotter know that the strip is often the scene of such criminal mischief during the summer.
In this case, the perp broke the window at around noon, and then tinkered with the steering column, though he was unable to swipe the car.
Mr. Freeze
A sharp-eyed cop nabbed a cold-handed thug who had allegedly stolen an outdoor freezer unit from a Third Avenue gas station just before midnight on May 14.
Surveillance footage from the gas station at the corner of Butler Street showed two men pull up at around 11:20 pm, load the freezer into their green van, and drive off. One of the men’s faces is clearly visible on the tape.
About 12 hours later, that same man was driving on Ninth Street near the Gowanus Canal when Officer Michael Furia stopped him because of a defective brake light.
Furia quickly determined that the driver matched the description of the perp on the surveillance tape, and arrested him.
Mr. Freeze is now facing grand larceny and possession of stolen property charges — along with a violation for that broken tail light.
Backdoor man
A thief snatched a laptop and cellphone from the front desk of a store while the owner was in a back room on May 13.
The victim told cops he was only out of sight for a few minutes at around 9:20 pm, but that was enough time for the thief to grab the computer and Blackberry device from the store, which is between St. Marks Avenue and Prospect Place.
Worked out
A thief grabbed a woman’s bag out of her unsecured locker at a Flatbush Avenue gym on May 13, cops said.
The 44-year-old victim told police that she left the bag in a locker at the gym, which is between Seventh Avenue and Sterling Place, at around 10:45 am. When she returned after an hour on the machines, she discovered the bag was gone.
She lost $213 and various cards – which were promptly cancelled.
